Jury convicts pediatrician of porn possession

A pediatrician who worked in Pennsylvania and Texas and was applying for a license in New Mexico was convicted of possessing a video of children being sexually abused, state authorities said.

A Bernalillo County jury found Juan Santos Torres guilty of one count of Sexual Exploitation of Children by Possession. Santos Torres faced only a fraction of the charges prosecutors believed they could have charged. They said he had many such videos, but they were limited by lack of clarity in the statute that applied.

Bernalillo County District Court Judge Brown imposed 14 of the 18 months allowed by law, and also sentenced him to the maximum amount of probation.

“We continue to prosecute these important cases despite the limitations of the law, and we appreciate the hard work in this case of our prosecutors, special agents, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department, and the Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory," said Atty. Gen. Hector Balderas.

Balderas said the state legislature needs to clarify portions of the penal code to make it possible to prosecute defendants like Santos Torres to the full extent justified by their offenses.